Superstars happy to go with flow

THERE is no shortage of sports stars in Bath, but rarely can such an array of talent have been seen there as that assembled for the Sport Relief Superstars tournament for the Telegraph Trophy.

Steve Redgrave, Alex Coomber, Martin Offiah, Chris Boardman, Dwight Yorke, Gianluca Vialli, Austin Healey, Stephanie Cook and John Regis comprised the cast for the sporting extravaganza that will be the highlight of the BBC's marathon Sport Relief fundraising show on July 13.

Yesterday the competitors took part in a 100 metre sprint, a canoe race on the River Avon and a one kilometre run. Today's competition features a 50m swim, archery, mountain biking and a gym test. The athletes may opt out of any two events except the compulsory gym test.

The Superstars format was hugely popular in the Seventies and Eighties and readers of the correct vintage may remember the multi-sport prowess of judo's Brian Jacks, the tyranny of the squat thrusts and Kevin Keegan falling off his bike.

For obvious reasons we cannot reveal the results of yesterday's events, but the early signs are that the concept has lost none of its appeal. The atmosphere among the athletes is relaxed in the extreme.

"There's some great banter going on," said Redgrave, the only veteran of the original competition taking part this time. "There's intense rivalry between all the athletes while we're competing. None of us likes to lose, or we wouldn't be here, but as soon as each individual event is finished we can switch off and get back to having a laugh."

There has been plenty to laugh about, and without revealing too much about the competition it is particularly worth looking out for John Regis's attempts to navigate his canoe up a straight stretch of river.

Alex Coomber, the skeleton bobsleigh medallist from the Salt Lake City Olympics, is more used to competing on ice than dry land, but seemed to be enjoying the experience.

"It's good fun just being with all the people," she said. "I'll be happy just to score a point."

Regis and Offiah are the kings of banter, swapping good-humoured jibes while the athletes wait between events.

"John is at the wrong event," Offiah summed up. "From what I've seen of his performances so far, he should be in Comic Relief, not Sport Relief."